A Decision Support System for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Cost Estimation

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Abstract

The increased use of advanced composites in aerospace manufacturing has led to the
development of new production processes and technology. The implementation of
advanced composites manufacturing technology is poorly served by traditional cost
accounting methods, which distort costs by using inappropriate volume-based
allocations of overhead. Activity-based costing has emerged as a methodology which
provides more accurate allocation of costs to products or activities by their usage of
company resources. Better designs may also be produced if designers could evaluate
the cost implications of their choices early in the design process. This research
describes a methodology whereby companies can improve product cost estimation at
the conceptual design phase, using intelligent searching and arrangement of existing
accounting data to enable designers to access the activity cost information more
readily. The concept has considerable scope for application in industry because it will
allow companies to make better use of information that is already being recorded in
their information systems, by providing it in a form which will enable designers to make
better informed decisions during the design process. The design decision support
framework is illustrated by applying it to a typical problem in aerospace composites
manufacturing. Feasibility of the approach is demonstrated using a prototype software
model of the Design Decision Support System, implemented using commercially
available software.